Portable soda-water apparatus



UNITED STATES PATENT GFEICEf E. D. WHEELER, OF MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE.

PORTABLE SODA-WATER APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,382, dated May 25, 1858.

To atl whom it may concern:

Murfreesboro, in the county of Rutherford and State of Tennessee, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Soda- Tater Apparatus;and I do hereby declare that the following is a' full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawing, forming partof this specification, inwhich- Figure l is a top view of apparatus. F ig. 2 is a verticalsection on line Fig. 3 is a view showing interior of cap.

Similar characters of reference in the several figures denote the samepart.

The object of my invention is so to charge the generator' with thesubstances producing the carbonic acid gas, that the gas shall be slowlyand progressively evolved and be passed into the fount gradually incombination with a peculiar construction of apparatus hereinafter to bedescribed, whereby a purifier is dispensed with.

The details of this invention will be fully understood by reference tothe drawing, in which- A E is the fount constructed, when of smallcapacity, of tin; and of any other metal that may be desired when oflarge size; the inside being tinned. This fount is supported on legs Z,and has a pipe P leading from the bottom to the discharge cock C, ofordinary construction. This cock has a cover B, to be removed when sodawater is to be drawn.

Through the center of the fount runs a cylinder D, divided into twoparts by a diaphragm a. The upper portion communicates with the fount,by the pipe F, leading to the lower portion thereof, and having aperforated branch cl. The lower part of cylinder D, has numerousperforations b, for the free passage of the water contained in thefount.

Within the upper portion of cylinder D, is a glass cylinder c for thereception of the charge A. Then it is not designed to use sulfuric acid,this glass cylinder may be dispensed with.

The cylinder D is covered with a cap H, braced inside by pieces e, andpacked to fit close to the upper edge of the cylinder D in the followingmanner. The space between the two rims z' z", is illed with guttapercha, softened by immersion in hot water; the cap is forced down andan impression of the edge of cylinder D made in the gutta percha. Thecap is held down by the bar G and pin j', so that the close connect-ionof gutta percha and edge of the cylinder D, is perfectly air tight. i

V is a vent closed by the pin q driven into a soft plate of metal andcapable of an easy remo-val at will, but at the saine time capable ofresisting the requisite pressure. A safety valve may be used at thispoint in the place of a simple vent.

The construction here given may be varied in many details, withoutchanging the character of the apparatus, therefore I do not wish to beunderstood as confining myself to the precise construction of apparatusfigured in the drawing, and described above.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. The charges A, of Vthesubstances to be used for the production' of gas are first prepared byslipping the bag over a metal cylinder, into which the mixture ispoured. The cylinder is then withdrawn, leaving the mixture in thecloth. The upper end of the cloth is then secured, and the charge isready for use. These charges should have such a cross section as toleave about threeeighths of an inch between its surface and the chamberc. If the charge consists of carbonate of soda, and tartaric acid, asmall quantity of water is poured into the generator C, which. when thecharge is inserted will rise as indicated by red line in Fig. 2. Thefount is supplied with water, and after the insertion of the charge A,and the placing of a sponge S upon it, the cap is securely fastened.

The moistening of the lower portion of the charge causes the gas to beevolved, and pass upward through the dry portion of the charge, andthrough the sponge, to the pipe P', and thence to the water in thefount. This generation of gas is attended with a very` slighteffervescence. And as the water is drawn upward by capillary attractionthe generation of gas still continues in the same quiet manner until thecloth contains nothing but the resulting tartrate of soda.

The sponge S serves to dry the gas; and if it be scented willcommunicate the odor to the gas, so as perceptibly to flavor the sodawater produced.

If marble dust be used, then the glass chamber C will be supplied with asmall quantity of dilute sulfuric acid. The marble dust must be mixedwith some substance that will, by absorption, diffuse the sufuric acidthrough the marble dust. The action will then be the same as abovestated; no agitation being required during the generation. Y

This mode of charging prevents the rapid generation of gas which takesplace under the ordinary method, and thus relieves the apparatus fromthe undue pressure of such rapid generation.

In this apparatus the generation of the gas is quiet and progressive:the liquid rising gradually by the capillary attraction of the fiber ofthe cloth and by the absorption of the charge. 1

There may be a wheel within the fount to be acted on by the flow of gasfrom pipe P, and by its rot-ation serve to agitate the water and favorthe mixture of the gas with it. This however is not essential.

This method of charging the generator prevents elfervescence except in avery small degree and thus renders the use of washers to purify the gasunnecessary, asvnothing can be carried off with the pure gas. I wouldalso state that bi-carbonate of soda may be inclosed in the cloth andused with dilute sulfuric acid, for the generation of carbonic acid gas;and will be found an economical method.

What I claim as new, and of my own invention and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

Inclosing the charge in a long fibrous case or bag A when said case orbag is used in combination with a soda water apparatus constructed andoperating as above described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name before twosubscribing witnesses.

E. D. WHEELER. Witnesses:

GEO. PATTEN, Jol-1N S. I-IoLLiNesHEAD.

